When semiconductor devices are manufactured it is a common practice to place thin film resistors on a dielectric layer and cover them with a resistor protect layer. At a later time the resistor protect layer may be covered with a conductor layer. When portions of the conductor layer are subsequently etched away the etch process may also etch away some portions of the resistor protect layer.
In the prior art when an etch process is applied to completely etch away the last remaining filament portions of the conductor layer the etch process may also etch away additional portions of the resistor protect layer and expose the underlying thin film resistor. This means that the underlying thin film resistor will be susceptible to plasma damage from the etch process. That is, if an etch process is used to completely remove the last remaining conductive filament portions of a conductor layer the etch process may detrimentally etch and damage any exposed portions of the thin film resistor.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a system and method that is capable of providing protection for thin film resistors that are located under a resistor protect layer so that the thin film resistors are not exposed to an etch process. There is also a need in the art for a system and method that is capable of providing an improved resistor protect layer that is capable of completely shielding an underlying thin film resistor from an etch process.